John Beck

John Beck (born January 28, 1943) is an American retired actor, known best for his role as Mark Graison in the television series Dallas during the mid-1980s. Early life Beck was born in Chicago, Illinois but he grew up in Evanston and Joliet on his father's ranch, with the goal of becoming a veterinarian. His goals changed at the age of sixteen after performing in a play in high school to overcome shyness. Three years later, Beck relocated to California and had jobs in television commercials. In 1963-4, Beck attended Joliet Junior College but quit to begin acting in plays in other cities. Career Beck's television debut was as a Sergeant in the 1965 episode "Russian Roulette" of the television series I Dream of Jeannie. His first regular role was for the television western series Nichols (1971-1972) alongside James Garner, playing the role of Orv Ketcham. One of Beck's earliest movie roles was as Skinny in Cyborg 2087 (1966). Beck played Erno who commands a revolt against a totalitarian government in Woody Allen's science fiction comedy Sleeper (1973). That same year, he appeared as John W. Poe in the Sam Peckinpah western Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. In 1975, he appeared opposite James Caan as Moonpie in the movie Rollerball. He had a leading role in The Other Side of Midnight (1977), which the critics condemned, but the movie was a financial success. Other movie credits include The Big Bus (1976), Audrey Rose (1977), Deadly Illusion (1987), In the Cold of the Night (1990), A Climate for Killing (1991), Last Time Out (1994), Black Day Blue Night (1995), Dark Planet (1997), A Place to Grow (1998), Chain of Command (2000), Crash Point Zero (2001), Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (2003), and Crash Landing (2005).